Albums - intros, outros and structure?

Hi guys, i dunno if this is the right place to post this thread, but i guess it will have to do. If not, someone move it to the right place.

Anyway, im writing a concept album. Actually, concept albums, but im trying to just focus on the first one and then see where it goes from there. I have the story pretty much down, at least until the point where this album would end, i have a name, i have characters, more than half of the songs are written and at least demo'ed if not recorded properly, im working on artwork... Sure, there is still a lot of things i need to do, but its one of the most fulfilling things i have ever done

What im wondering is, should i do an intro/outro thing or not? I'd really want to do them, but im not sure what kind would fit. The genere of the album is some sort of modern hard rock, basicly its guitar oriented without many aditional orchestrations, synths or whatever. Should the intro be just a simple composition on an acoustic guitar, especially since the first song would be an acoustic balad? On the other hand, i love intros that are "mysterious" or "creepy", with synths and sound effects. I've even tried to make one wich included a number station recording. I've also tried to hide a message into either the music (like Aphex Twin did) or encoding text into the numbers being spoken. But im not sure those would fit well into the album, since again, it is pretty much guitar oriented, without many fancy aditions.

I've written two songs which basically bookend each other. They are meant to do exactly what you are proposing; providing an intro and an outro to an album, though I'm not building a concept album. Even when burning CD mixes for use in my car (yes, I'm too cheap to buy a mp3-capable deck until mine blows up), I tend to start the mix and finish it with specific songs.

I'd say write an intro, record it, and listen to it before listening to the first track you have for the story. Do the same for the outro, if you have the last track demoed. Does it fit? Does it add anything to the album? Does it detract? At worst, you've done a creative exercise and maybe have some neat riffs or lyrics to save for later expansion. At best, you enhance your concept and story and build a better album.

IMO, there isn't a 'right' answer, as going with into/outro tracks can easily work well and enhance an album. I remember a couple of albums like that, though at this time, my memory fails me. I think Styx had one though.